St George Illawarra have copped a triple blow at the NRL Nines with three players racing the clock to be fit for round one against the Wests Tigers in a month.
Fullback Matt Dufty suffered a fractured cheekbone, prop Korbin Sims aggravated a previous arm fracture and skipper Cameron McInnes strained his MCL in the Nines final at HBF Park in Perth.
Sims missed a large chunk of the 2019 season with a broken forearm and was taken from the field in Saturday’s Nines semi-final win over Parramatta.
The 28-year-old will be sent for scans when the team return to Sydney on Sunday and will be in danger of missing round one along with Dufty, who will also travel back with the team.
The Dragons have confirmed the 24-year-old Dufty will require stabilisation surgery after an ugly collision against Parramatta in the group stages.
The incident happened soon after the kickoff as he chased the restart.
He later discharged himself from hospital to return to the ground to watch his teammates play their finals matches.
Devastatingly, skipper McInnes suffered medial damage to his left knee while attempting to make a tackle in the Nines final against North Queensland.
He will be sent for scans to determine the severity of the injury, but he will be racing the clock to be fit for round one.
Meanwhile, North Queensland were without star forward Josh McGuire in the final after he suffered what is believed to be an MCL injury against Gold Coast in the semi-finals.
Coach Paul Green confirmed the injury is only minor and the Queensland forward should be available for round two (he is suspended for round one).
The Wests Tigers have confirmed Paul Momirovski will miss the next two to three weeks with an ankle sprain suffered on Friday against South Sydney.
Rabbitohs forward Ethan Lowe failed a fitness test on Saturday and did not play after a minor MCL sprain on Friday, while Brisbane star Anthony Milford also sat out day two of the competition with a hamstring complaint.
In the women’s game, St George Illawarra forward Holli Wheeler is facing a long recovery after suffering an ACL tear on Friday against the Broncos.
The 30-year-old Australian and NSW representative twisted her knee in a tackle and was taken from the field on a stretcher.